Return To Lowell F. Johnson Master Menu Return To Lowell F. Johnson Sermons on David Menu
It's What's On the Inside That Counts CHAPTER 1 I Samuel 16:1-13
Before Reading the Scripture:
Today we begin a study on the Life of David.
It is interesting that more space is devoted to David in scripture than to any other person, except the Lord Jesus. More than is given to Abraham, Moses, or Paul. -It is also interesting that no other man is named “David” in the Bible. He is the only David in scripture. -The name “David” means “beloved”.
David is a type of the Lord Jesus. Jesus is called in the N. T. “the son of David” and “the root and offspring of David.” -Jerusalem is called “the city of David.”
No one picture sums up David's life. He was tenderhearted; yet, he was a warrior. Dr. Jeremiah calls him “The Tender Warrior.” He was a saint and a sinner. He was a shepherd and a king. He was a warrior and a musician.
He was a man of great charisma. People were drawn to him. Michal, Saul's daughter, fell in love with him. Jonathan, Saul's son, became David's best friend. Even the king of the Philistines, and as you know the Philistines were the enemies of Israel and a thorn in their side, once said, “thou art good in my sight, as the angel of God” (I Samuel 29:9).
David was a man of many hats. He was a shepherd, a singer, a servant, a soldier, a sufferer, a seer, a supplicant, a scholar, a sovereign, a spouse, a sinner, and a saint.
After 3,000 years, David is still the best known and most loved of all the Kings of Israel.
God called David “a man after my own heart,” twice! -God had faith in David: the question is was he faithful? Did he live up to God's expectations? -According to God Himself, he did. When Solomon stood in the new Temple he had built, God appeared to him there and said: I Kings 9:4 “And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked...” Solomon failed to do this and God tells us why in I Kings 11:4, 6 “...and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.” “... and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.”
And yet, that is only one side of the story. The Bible never flatters its heroes. It tells the raw truth about each one. -Scripture presents David as a real flesh and blood man. We see him “warts and all.” He rose to great heights in the service of God but he also fell to great depths of sin. -The Bible always tells the truth about men so that, against the backdrop of human frailty and failure, we can see the wonderful grace of God at work upon the platform of human weakness. -So we begin today looking at the Life of David.
Read the scripture. 1
From the time that God raised up Abraham to be the father of the faithful, the people of God, Israel was governed by God in theocracy, but now the people didn't want God to govern them. They wanted to move from a theocracy, governed by God, to a monarchy, a nation ruled by human kings. They wanted to be like all the other nations of the earth. -I Sam. 8:4-7 is the people's reasons for wanting a king over them. -I Sam. 8:9 Samuel warns the people they will live to regret their decision for a king. (1) Their young men and women will be drafted for his service. 11-13 (2) He will tax the people's crops and flocks-14,15,17 (3) He will take your best animals for his service. 16 (4) There will be limitations placed on their personal freedom. 17B (5) When they cry out in pity for the Lord to deliver them out of the hand of their king who oppresses them, the Lord will refuse to do so. 18
-I Sam. 8:19-22a Up until this point, the Lord Himself had fought the battles for Israel and given continual victory. Israel no longer wanted the Lord to be their warrior. They wanted to replace the Lord with a human king. It was in this way that Israel rejected the Lord. -The problem was not in having a king; but, rather the reason the people wanted a king.
Three things I want to share with you:
I. The Man God Refuses -16:1
You will remember that Samuel was the last of the Judges and the first of the prophets in Israel. It was he who had anointed Saul as Israel's first king. -No man ever had a better start than did Saul. He was an impressive young man – tall, handsome, a born leader. To begin with, he was humble. He was not impressed with himself. He was the “People's Choice!” -The people were proud of Saul. Scripture says in 10:23 that he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. -I Sam. 10:6 says the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and turned him into another man. He was empowered by the Holy Spirit. In 10:9 God gave him another heart or prepared him for kingship. -But Saul had an impulsive streak that made him act without thinking. He began to think he could act without God and even rebelled against God. He was no longer small in his own eyes, but in pride, thought he was bigger than he was. (a) I Sam. 13 – Saul was to wait seven days for Samuel at Gilgal so Samuel could sacrifice unto the Lord for Israel's victory over the Philistines. But Samuel did not come at the time Saul thought he should come, so Saul ordered the people to bring a burnt offering and he would do Samuel's job; he would sacrifice the offering. But as soon as Saul finished the sacrifice, Samuel showed up and said, “Saul, what have you done? Because of your disobedience, the Lord will take your kingdom from you.” (b)Then Saul made a foolish oath saying no one could eat food during battle. Then he pronounced a curse on anyone who ate any food during the battle. Jonathan, Saul's son, had not heard the oath. He became weak in battle and the other people did, as well. In the woods, he found honey-combs dripping with honey. Jonathan ate some and regained his strength. When he was told of Saul's oath, he said the oath was foolish and they should all eat so they could continue to fight. It almost cost Jonathan his life. (c)Then Saul was told to completely destroy King Gag and all that he had. Samuel comes on the scene and sees that he has saved Agag alive and the best of the animals. Samuel, in an act of Divine judgment, takes a sword and hacks Agag in pieces. He tells Saul that because he has rejected the Lord, the Lord has rejected him and given the throne to another. -Although Samuel anoints David as King, Saul stays on the throne for another fourteen years, but God removed His Spirit from him. 2 -The rejection of Saul as king opened the door for David to be king. -No man is indispensable. Rebel against God and He will fill your place with someone who is better than you are. -When a man of God fails, nothing of God fails. If one man will not do God's will, another will be found.
Saul has disqualified himself. -16:1 Says Samuel mourned for Saul. Why? As a pastor I think I understand. Samuel continually held out hope for Saul. He thought Saul would learn his lesson, swallow his pride and become the king that God wanted him to be. -Spiritual leaders are like that. We keep thinking our people will grow up spiritually. We keep praying that they will renounce their sin and obey the Lord. We've invested time, energy, and prayer, but when they reject the Lord and it hurts. -What's more, the people would associate Samuel with Saul so he had lost some political clout, too. Israel was drifting from God and drifting into deep trouble.
II. The Method God Chooses – 16:1b-5
Conscience DOES make cowards of us all. -Did Samuel come as preacher or judge? Can't you hear the townspeople ? Was Samuel there for ministry or judgment? -Why should the people think Samuel came for judgment? Because they knew they deserved it. Guilt causes fear and destroys peace. -No doubt they had heard how the old prophet had hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord. Now they feared Samuel would speak a word of judgment against them. -What a relief when he told them he came to minister.
Samuel knows God's choice for the new king was among Jesse's sons, but he sure didn't learn much from the experience with Saul. -Notice 16:6-12
How do you choose a servant of God? 16:7
A. Beauty -In his book, “Hide and Seek”, James Dobson says that the number one criteria by which we evaluate the self-worth of a person is by their appearance. -That's why we spend so much time, effort, and money taking care of the outside; how we look before others. -We are a “beauty-consumed” culture. I read that there are over 25,000 annual beauty contest in America. That goes from “Little Miss So and So to Miss Senior Adult. We even have Nursing Home Queens. Down in Texas, they even have a Rattlesnake Queen. How would you like that on your resume, ladies?
Understand that God is not against externals. I think He wants us to do all we can to look nice, but the problem is that too often we spend all of our time making the outward man attractive and very little time making the inward man attractive and there is where a person's real beauty lies.
B. Brains -Who can we impress with our KNOWLEDGE and QUICK WHIT? -Ability is important, but not nearly as important as Availability and Dependability.
C. Bucks -I know Big Bucks carries great influence, but I also know a lot of folks have more in their purse than in their person. 3 When God measures a man, He puts the tape around his HEART and NOT his HEAD! -See 2 Chron 16:9a Different translations: Whose heart is “perfect” toward “Him” Whose heart is “Loyal” toward Him Whose heart is “True” toward Him Whose heart is “sensitive” toward Him Whose heart is “in harmony with” Him
What God is saying is, “It's what's on the inside that counts.”
A little black boy, watching a man fill colored balloons said, “Mister, will those black balloons go as high as the others?”Knowing the lad had more than balloons on his mind, he replied, “Son, it's not what's on the outside, but what's on the inside that determines how high they go.” -That's a great principle: It is not circumstances or reputation that determine how high you will go, but character!
David was a man after God's own heart. What kind of heart did David have? (1)A Committed Heart not perfect, but fixed steadfastly on God
(2)A Courageous Heart It takes courage to serve God, for there are times when you find yourself standing alone.
(3)A Consecrated Heart Empowered by the Holy Spirit for the task
(4)A Compassionate Heart Mephiboseth, a little cripple boy, was the only one of Saul's family left when David came to the throne and David promised him he would eat at the King's table the rest of his life.
(5)A Contagious Heart Folks around David caught his spirit. You've been around folks that just seem to lift your spirit. Someone is catching your spirit – for good or bad!
(6)A Contrite Heart David was far from perfect. He had some glaring weaknesses; yet, his sin broke his heart. He was sensitive to his sin and kept short accounts with God.
(7)A Celebrating Heart The Psalms are filled with praise for God from His heart.
III. The Moment God Infuses – 16:13
Allen Redpath said, “The conversion of a soul is the miracle of a moment, but the development of a saint is the task of a lifetime.”
We have to LEARN to have a heart for God. Our hearts must be Disciplined and Developed day by day.
David prayed: “Create within me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.”
It's whats on the inside that counts with God!
Return To Lowell F. Johnson Master Menu Return To Lowell F. Johnson Sermons on David Menu